Live Nation Entertainment Inc. has reportedly thrown its hat
into the ring in the ongoing battle to acquire Warner Music
Group, a competition that can now count over a dozen
participants. Live Nation's bid, according to the Wall
Street Journal, is for just the recorded music portion of the
company. Warner also operates a publishing business,
Warner / Chappell, whose catalog includes the recorded works of
Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Katy Perry, and hundreds more
artists.

The surprise bid from the world's largest concert promoter is
in stark contrast to statements made by its CEO, Irving
Azoff. An accomplished personal music manager, Azoff has
repeatedly denied any interest in acquiring Warner.
Azoff's personal management business boasts a number of top
music acts in its stable, including Christina Aguilera, Van
Halen, Josh Groban, 30 Second to Mars, and others.

If its offer is accepted, it will likely face extensive
regulatory scrutiny, insiders say, similar to when the company
merged with Ticketmaster to create the world's largest
event-ticketing agency. Regulators at the time were
concerned about the power the company would have after merging
the world's largest concert promoter with the world's largest
ticketing agency. Approval was ultimately given, and the
deal closed in the early part of last year.

Warner Bros., meanwhile, asked Goldman Sachs to handle the sale
late last year when it received an unsolicited offer from KKR,
a bid that has since been increased in response to the dozen or
so subsequent offers made. Warner's board of directors
hopes to begin eliminating bids in the next few weeks and make
a final decision by the end of the month.

Comments

0 Comments

Please login or sign up to post on this network.Click here to sign up now.